More pharmaceuticals have been linked to a meningitis outbreak which has sickened 214 people killed 15.

New England Compounding Center, NECC, is the pharmaceutical company at the center of the outbreak and is cooperating with the FDA and the CDC advising doctors and surgeons to contact patients who have come in contact with drugs which may be responsible for the spread of meningitis.

High risk behaviors such as IV drug use is fueling the increase while tattooing and sexual activity continue to spread the disease.

To assess the incidence of hepatitis C, the researchers reviewed Pennsylvania’s hepatitis C surveillance data from 2003 (the first full year of reportable data) to 2010. They compared age-specific rates of reported cases over time.

The number of newly confirmed or probable hepatitis C cases in people 15 to 34 years of age increased from 1384 in 2003 to 2393 in 2010 (from 43 to 72 cases per 100,000 people).

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